Baltimore, MD – Creative Alliance and Southeast Community Development Corporation in conjunction with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and SPAIN arts & culture, announces the installation of a permanent public art project that includes three large sculptures that form the letters BUS. Each letter stands 14 feet tall and 7 feet wide. This conceptual sculpture and bus stop was created by the Spanish collaborative mmmm… as part of the initiative TRANSIT – Creative Placemaking with Europe in Baltimore.

This is the second United States installation created by the Spanish artist collective mmmm… In 2011 mmmm… built the Meeting Bowls in Times Square in New York City. This project was comprised of large objects shaped like bowls that provided seating to accommodate eight people. The temporary and playful urban furniture was designed to promote interaction by having those seated inside the bowls face one another. The bowls were a social place for gathering, getting to know people, and fostering dialogue in small groups. During the time the Meeting Bowls were installed in Times Square, approximately 20,000,000 pedestrians saw them, and tens of thousands took photographs. Many stories appeared in the media regarding the Meeting Bowls, including a humorous commentary by David Letterman on the Late Show.

BUS clearly functions as bus stop on S. East Street in Highlandtown, right next to the Creative Alliance. The artists mmmm… wanted to create a place for the community to enjoy, interact, and meet while waiting for the bus. Their mission was to transform the dull experience of waiting for the bus to an entertaining, leisurely space in the middle of the hectic rhythm of the city.

BUS is made with wood and steel, materials that are typically used to build urban furniture. The three letters of BUS allow passengers to assume different postures of sitting or standing while waiting for the bus. Each letter has its own distinct personality. The specific modifications were designed to be geometric letters that maximize functionality; for example, the S allows passengers to lie back while they wait, and the B provides handicap-accessible shelter from the wind and rain.

The bus stop is manufactured in a way that is similar to the construction of conventional street benches. The planks of wood are screwed to a resistant steel structure that supports weight and prevents vandalism. As in a conventional bench, the use of planks allows the sculptures to achieve a curved geometric profile that enables passengers to assume comfortable positions. The letters are big enough to accommodate two to four people each and protect them from rain, sun, wind, and inclement weather.

"Creative Alliance is extremely fortunate and honored to have mmmm..., a group of prominent visiting artists from Spain, bring their creativity and playful sculptural art to our community here in Highlandtown," said Gina Caruso, Managing Director at Creative Alliance, who has been working closely on the project. "Passengers will actually become part of the art as they wait for the bus. It’s wonderful."

"The size, shape, and function of BUS, can make this unique bus stop a reference sculpture for Highlandtown neighborhood and the city of Baltimore. BUS can become an iconic urban meeting point," said Ciro Márquez of mmmm… "A bus stop you will never miss."

About mmmm…

mmmm… is a collaboration between Emilio Alarcón, Alberto Alarcón, Ciro Márquez and Eva Salmerón, who have been creating projects for public spaces since 1998 in Madrid, Spain. They have arranged 100 couples kissing simultaneously throughout the crowds of the city center. Noise levels on the streets unexpectedly plummeted during that moment of mass intimacy. They have scattered members of an orchestra that played the same music simultaneously on various streets. Pedestrians experienced the music differently depending on which street they walked past, the speed at which they walked, and by which direction they were headed. Also they have built the Meeting Bowls in Times Square (New York), large objects shaped like bowls with seating to accommodate eight people. They constructed temporary and playful urban furniture, designed to promote interaction by having those seated inside face one another. Meeting Bowls were social places for gathering and getting to know people. For more info, visit www.mmmm.tv

Collaborating with Baltimore Artists

mmmm... could not have completed the sculptures without the help of Kyle Miller and Tim Scofield, local sculptors from Baltimore who have fabricated the piece in collaboration with mmmm… at Tim Scofield Studios at 421 N. Exeter St.

About TRANSIT

TRANSIT – Creative Placemaking with Europe is an initiative of the Washington DC cluster of the EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), supported by a grant from the European Union. TRANSIT is supported by the British Council, Goethe-Institut, SPAIN arts & culture, the Embassies of Austria, Greece, Ireland, Finland and Poland. For more info visit: www.europeinbaltimore.org

About Creative Alliance

The Creative Alliance builds communities by bringing together artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds to experience arts and education programs and engage in the creative process. We provide support to area artists, promote Baltimore as a center for creative production, act as a positive force in our community, and advocate for cultural expression rooted in a sense of place. Founded by volunteers in 1995. In 1998, the Creative Alliance began working with a coalition of business, religious and political leaders on a revitalization plan for Highlandtown, just northeast of Fells Point. The Creative Alliance reopened The Patterson as a multi-purpose arts center on May 16, 2003. For more info visit: creativealliance.org

Southeast Community Development Corporation

The Southeast Community Development Corporation is one of the oldest community development corporations in Baltimore. Founded in 1975 as Southeast Development, Inc. (SDI), SDI developed and constructed community facilities, then focused on housing, becoming a steady producer of affordable housing throughout the eighties and nineties. In the late nineties, it incorporated as the Southeast Community Development Corporation and focused on the Highlandtown community. Today, we are the only community development corporation to combine a unique set of private and public programs to focus on the revitalization of Southeast Baltimore communities. For more info visit: www.SoutheastCDC.org

With firm and determined steps, fifty Minotaurs will walk upright and proudly through the streets of central Madrid. Advancing, they press ahead with strength and tenacity. Fifty people wearing large bulls heads made of cardboard will scatter and disperse, walking the sidewalks and traversing the traffic lights and street corners of the city.

The figures will create a visually striking and strange urban landscape. The Minotaur is a traditional Spanish character loaded with symbolism. As both man and animal, this primeval monster is powerful and erotic.

The action does not speak to the bullfighting debate. We speak to the current social context of Spain, bringing optimism and vitality to what has been woeful and pessimistic. The figure of the bull ideally represents the resistance, the courage and the character of the Spanish people. This is a bull that is able to overcome all challenges.

RAPE MAP is a worldwide rape map where victims will have the chance to
locate via Google Maps the exact place where the rape happened and add their
story or make a statement freely. The purpose of RAPE MAP is to fight against
the stigma of being raped.

RAPE MAP is not a statistics map, it's a testimonies map: "What happened?" "I
was mugged and robbed". "Where? When? Are you all right?" "Yes. In a
wood by a village near here." "Were you raped?" I said nothing. "Were you raped?" "Yes." I said it quietly, so as not to hear myself. I said it. I said it. I didn’t
plan to say it, but I did.

Why do we talk naturally about an accident or robbery, but are afraid to talk
about rape? Why does violation shame us? It is not something that is chosen,
is it? Why are we force to hide? A girl born today in South Africa has more
probabilities of being raped than learning how to read. Break your silence.
Please share your story with us. We are many people, who have been victims
of rape. Don't encourage the social taboo of rape.

RAPE MAP is a non-profit project developed by the Rape Map Association from an original idea by mmmm...

TIMES
SQUARE ALLIANCE AND mmmm… PRESENT
"MEETING BOWLS" AT TIMES SQUARE

An Experiment in Urban Furniture and Dialogue arrives from
Spain.

Times Square, New York (August 10, 2011) – The Times Square Alliance
with the Consulate General of Spain in New York today announced a month-long
public art installation of three large sculptures with seating for eight people.
Created by the Spanish collaborative mmmm…, the Meeting
Bowls are social places for gathering and getting to know people. On a first-come,
first-serve basis at 46th and Broadway, all members of the public can enjoy the
intimate spaces from 8 AM to Midnight. This is the world premier of Meeting Bowls
and the first installation by mmmm… in the United States.

"Times Square is pleased to be a testing ground for emerging ideas about
gathering in our public spaces and thus enriching cities worldwide," said
Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance. "The Meeting Bowls
are a new type of temporary and playful urban furniture creating a small oasis
among the rush of pedestrians."

"Contemporary to the recent Spanish 15-M Movement, and similar in aspiration,
we hope the Meeting Bowls will encourage dialogue and interaction in the most
important main square in the world, Times Square," said Eva Salmerón
of mmmm… "The small group discussions will promote
a sense of community and humanize the modern city."

The semi-spherical capsules stand 5 feet tall and 7 feet in diameter with
a continuous seating ring inside. The Meeting Bowls gently rock as people step
in and out. The artists created the gentle motion to be relaxing and fun much
like a swing, but one for adults.

Once inside the bowls, signs ask people to record and to share their dialogue
via smartphones or laptops. QR codes and hashtags facilitate connecting to others
from the past or in the future through the mmmm… website,
facebook and twitter. The links:

Rather than build and ship the Meetings Bowls from Spain, mmmm… utilized
global computer-aided manufacturing. Digital files of the 250 parts were emailed
to Advanced Cutting Services in Roselle, New Jersey. Teaming with R&N, the
sheets of waterproof high-density chipboard or MDF were cut with computer driven
routers. On Monday, August 15, the four artists will assemble the meeting bowls
with only screw guns and rubber hammers live in Times Square.

About mmmm…

mmmm… is a collaboration by Emilio Alarcón,
Alberto Alarcón, Ciro Márquez and Eva Salmerón, who have
been creating projects for public space since 1998 from Madrid, Spain. They have
built in brick a life-size car that occupied a parking space between two vehicles
parked in the street. Or they have spread 100 couples kissing simultaneously
through out the crowds of the city center. Noise levels on the streets unexpectedly
plummeted during that moment of mass intimacy. Also they have scattered about
the streets, members of an orchestra that simultaneously played the same music.
Pedestrians experienced the music differently depending on which street they
walked past, the speed at which they walked, and by which direction they were
headed. For more info, visit www.mmmm.tv

Meetings Bowls is supported by the University of Alcalá, Consulate
General of Spain New York and Spain Culture New York. CNC
cutting was provided by Advanced Cutting Services and R&G
Construction Cabinet & Millwork of New Jersey.

About Times Square Alliance

The Times Square Alliance, founded in 1992, works to improve and promote Times
Square cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an
icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century. Times Square
Arts presents temporary cutting-edge art and performances in multiple forms and
media to the 360,000 to 500,000 daily visitors to New York City’s Times
Square, making it one of the highest profile public arts programs in the United
States. It is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation’s Cultural Innovation
Fund; and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. For past projects, visit www.TimesSquareNYC.org/arts

ELEVATOR ENCOUNTERS FOR
TEENAGERS AT REINA SOFÍA MUSEUM
Until June 2, 2011

The Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid asked for ideas on creating a workshop for teenagers
related to the body. The mmmm... group responded by developing a workshop emphasizing
physical experience rather than a theoretical exercise.

Aligned along a grid, twelve booths placed in the middle of a nondescript room. The booths appear exactly alike; each has a single door and an open roof. Opposite each door, a removable panel allows for the creation of larger and smaller spaces. During each encounter adjustments are made to the number of participants, the amount of light in the room, booth size and duration of the encounter.

How do participants perceive the "other" in such close proximity? Is a feeling of intimacy generated or claustrophobia? Does the participant avoid physical contact? Where do participants place their hands? Do they lose track of time? Who will be the next person to get into his or her booth?

The small space of each booth, less than a square meter, exaggerates gestures
and body language. It becomes immediately apparent which people are drawn to
one another and which feel uncomfortable. Curiously, the behavior and gestures
of participants in the same booth often mirror each other; two people touch their
hair simultaneously even when they are not looking at each other, participants
stand with their arms crossed or scratch their necks simultaneously.

The weekly workshop for secondary and high school students runs from October
25, 2010 through June 2, 2011 at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, Spain.

Members of an orchestra scattered about the streets around the center of Vitoria
will simultaneously play the same musical pieces. Each pedestrian will experience
the action differently depending on the streets they walk past, the speed they
walk at and which direction they’re headed. Pedestrians will stroll through
an orchestra and will be able to listen to each of the different instruments
independently without ever failing to perceive the music.

Musicians will be scattered around Herrería, Zapatería, Correría
and Sierva de Jesús streets. The action will take place on Saturday, September
12th at noon and will last two hours. The Joven Orquesta Gregorio Solabarrieta will
play the suite from Prokofiev’s "Romeo y Julieta", Charles
Ives’ "The Unanswered Question", a selection from Tchaikovsky’s
"The Nutcracker", Strauss’ "Eljen a Magyar" and "Off
to the Hunt!", and Khachaturian’s "Sabre Dance".

The different musical pieces will be broadcast over a local radio station
so that all musicians can play in synch despite being at a distance. Musicians
will carry tiny radio receivers and earphones so they can listen to the music
as they play. The radio program itself will encourage citizens to go out on the
streets to experience the action live.

An mmmm... action commissioned
by the Vitoria-Gasteiz
City Council as part of their Alhóndiga Plan within
the Disonancias program.